


Picture House

by Carriwitchets



Category: Persona 3, Persona 4, Persona 5, Persona Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth
Genre: But also some emotional bits too because this is persona, Endless silly shenanigans, Gen, I'm just going to tag characters as they show up in these, These kids deserve some of those, lots of bonding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-28
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:42:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 11,076
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22944226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carriwitchets/pseuds/Carriwitchets
Summary: There's no doubt that they all want to get out of this cinema and that the various movie set labyrinths are plenty dangerous. But that doesn't mean that they can't have some fun along the way with all of these new, strange Persona users they've now crossed paths with, as if by fate.A collection of PQ2 fics in no particular chronological order, focusing on filling in some of the unseen moments in the cinema.
Comments: 17
Kudos: 125





	1. Bathing

It was difficult to tell how much time had passed in the theater. At first, the Phantom Thieves didn’t really entirely notice; they had a goal in front of them, they had food (even if just cheap theater food), and they could conk out in chairs or on the lounge couches when they needed a break from dragging themselves through the set of the city they were exploring.

With a dogged determination that truly characterized them as a group, they continued, focused on their ultimate goals of finding a way out of here, of getting back home and saving Haru and Makoto and helping Hikari.

In fact, it wasn’t until they met up with the Investigation Team that it slowly started to sink in just how long they’d been in the theater.

The majority of the Investigation Team had immediately gone to check on Rise, leaving the Phantom Thieves standing around in an awkward cluster, each of them uncertain if they should follow or leave the mysterious other group of Persona users alone while they checked on their friend. Ultimately, they took their cues from Akira, who leaned back against the wall with his hands in his pockets, trusting that when they were ready, the others would introduce themselves.

That was the cue the Phantom Thieves (and their plus one) had been waiting for; Futaba and Yusuke meandered off to pester Theo for popcorn, Minako stretched with a contented sigh and then followed to make sure Theo wasn’t stomped on too thoroughly, and Morgana and Haru shuffled over to one of the lounge couches, Haru plucking foliage from Morgana’s fur as he tried not to act like he was enjoying it as much as he was. Akechi had stepped away at some point before he’d noticed.

Akira was just considering following Haru and Morgana to chat with them when Ann’s voice, loud in the quiet theater, broke the relative silence.

“Ewww, Ryuji! Put your arm down, you smell terrible!”

Akira paused. Ryuji, for his part, did have the good grace to look embarrassed, though naturally he blustered a little, as any teenage boy would when something like that is pointed out.

“H-hey, s’not like it’s on purpose. There’s nowhere to clean up around here, not really, so…!”

That much, Akira reflected, was true. While the theater had bathrooms, split by male and female, they only had the typical stall and sink set-up. There was nowhere in them to shower, and washing up with some paper towels in the sink was clearly not cutting it, especially not now that they were traversing a hot, manky jungle.

Thoughtfully, before Ann could respond, Makoto tapped her chin and murmured, “I wonder how long we’ve been in here…?”

That put a stopper in all arguments, each thief looking both consternated and thoughtful in equal measure. It was really impossible to tell. None of the theater windows showed light that changed any sort of color with the changing days, and the movie sets themselves were no help. Kamoshidaman was eternal night, and the tree cover in Junessic Land meant they were hardly getting any sunshine there, either.

It could’ve been anywhere from a few days to over a week, maybe even two, and none of them would have any real way of knowing. The silence in response to that settled heavily, and that was Akira’s cue; the last thing they needed was morale to be low now that they’d brought on board a whole new set of Persona users, right?

He straightened away from the wall, offering his friends a comfortable smile. “Well, regardless of how long it’s been, we might be able to at least take care of the cleanliness factor.”

It was enough of a distraction for Ann and Ryuji, though Makoto flashed him a look that meant they’d talk about the length of time they’d been trapped here in more detail later. That was fine by him. So long as Ann and Ryuji weren’t wearing those uncomfortably uncertain looks on their faces any longer… he and Makoto could handle figuring out the rest.

More importantly, he continued, “We might be able to find a bathhouse or something in the Kamoshidaman movie.”

Ann immediately made a face, and Akira nodded ruefully. “Yeah. I know. It’s not ideal, but he should be gone now, so we don’t have to worry about that, at least.”

She still looked reluctant, but the need to clean up was winning her over; for his part, Ryuji looked significantly more enthusiastic, agreeing with an eager, “Can’t hurt to try. Let’s go take a look. I bet Risette would like to have a place to clean up after all of that mess too.”

That caught Ann’s attention, her lips quirking in clear amusement. She slung an arm over his shoulder despite her earlier complaints. “Oh, anything for an _idol_ , right, Ryuji? Do you have a cruuuush now that you saw her in person?”

Ignoring both Ann’s ribbing and Ryuji’s spluttered response, Makoto simply crossed her arms and nodded. “It’s a good idea,” she said. “We need something that will keep morale up, and it’s true that we’re all starting to get a little…”

“Rank?” Akira offered, lips twitching.

Makoto paused, lifted a sleeve to try to discreetly take a sniff… and nodded firmly, clearing her throat.

“Let’s go.”

\--

After sharing their plans, the strike team ended up being Joker, Noir, Makoto, Skull and Panther. Morgana had pleaded off the team immediately, citing that someone had to be around to explain things to the other group of Persona users when they were ready (Akira knew he just had no actual interest in baths or being around any sort of water), Futaba and Yusuke were still busy, and Akechi was still MIA.

“Is this really okay ‘n all?” Ryuji said, a gloved hand on his hip as they stood at the entrance to the city they’d gotten to know all too well. The others gave him a quizzical look, and he elaborated, “Y’know, all of us together for a trip like this, girls and boys--”

Ann laughed at that, patting him on the shoulder. “Sure, of course it’s fine. You’re going to stand guard for us while we get cleaned up, when we find a place.”

Makoto nodded, tacking on, “There are still Shadows crawling around here, after all. We’ll need to take shifts on guard.”

“We’ll be counting on you two!” Haru added cheerily, not seeming to notice as Ryuji’s shoulders slumped from the onslaught.

Akira, who understood entirely well that it wasn’t even as if Ryuji had really wanted to peep in on them so much as that he was crushed under the weight of how they hadn’t even considered it for a moment, just rested a gloved hand on his shoulder companionably.

“Hot, steamy, comfortable baths await.”

Those hopeful words from their leader kicked them all into gear; they fanned out into a loose formation and began to search. The Shadows in this labyrinth weren’t too terribly threatening so long as they avoided the F.O.E.s, and so they made good progress, working together smoothly and easily to remove any Shadows that were unlucky enough to get in their way.

Unfortunately, as it turned out, hot, steamy, comfortable baths _did not_ actually await.

Haru tapped Ann’s palm gently with her own, stepping out of the way neatly to avoid the blast of fire Ann threw forward, burning the Shadow before them to ash. She dusted off her hands comfortably… and froze.

“Hey, Joker, guys… doesn’t that look like a bathhouse to you?” she asked, pointing forward, tone slowly lilting higher as the excitement started to sink in.

It didn’t look like a classic Japanese bathhouse, which wasn’t a surprise really; the entire city was modeled more after an American city filtered through a Hollywood lens. With that in mind, it wasn’t really surprising that Ann found something like that first, with her experience overseas. Heartened by the possibility of a proper, hot bath, the group of thieves took the pace up a notch--and soon enough, Joker was there, reaching out to tug the door open.

He froze.

Behind him, Ryuji bumped into him, not having anticipated Akira freezing in place so suddenly.

“Hey, man, what gives--”

Akira’s mouth opened, and closed, and then he slammed the door shut, turning immediately, pressing his back to the door. The others took one look at his wide eyes and pale face and were suddenly uncertain if they wanted to ask. Joker was so stable, always so difficult to ruffle, so for him to look like this…

He opened his mouth and closed it again, as if struggling for the words, before finally he managed to croak out, “Shadow bathhouse.”

It only took a moment for the words to sink in, and for their imaginations to fill in the gaps; Ann grimaced, Ryuji choked on nothing, and Makoto pressed a hand to her forehead, breathing out an exasperated breath. Haru tilted her head, and while she didn’t look too pleased with the imagery it was conjuring up in her brain herself, what she said was, “Did the Shadows see you, Joker…?”

His response was just a simple, “Ah.”

And then the door burst open to reveal a number of wet Shadows, many covered only by towels (if that), and the Phantom Thieves decided that retreat really was the better part of valor, and booked it the hell out of there.

And before they left the theater properly, Akira said, hushed and solemn, “We will never speak of this again.”

Not a single one of the group disagreed.

\--

It took them a bit of time to recover from the experience, but Akira wasn’t quite ready to give up on the idea just yet. It seemed to have really grabbed Makoto’s interest as well; she found him as he chatted with Theo about their equipment and whether or not he’d have new models for the new Persona users that would be joining them, snagging him by the elbow to gently pull him aside.

“I think it’s safe to say that the Kamoshidaman movie isn’t going to be a safe place to bathe,” she said as soon as they were alone, one hand propped on her hip. “It doesn’t necessarily seem like the most sanitary of options, but… what if we try one of the ponds in Junessic Land?”

Akira’s mind immediately went to prehistoric fish and sharks with large teeth and a partialness to human flesh. Reading his expression correctly immediately, she added hastily, “We’ll make sure it’s safe first, of course. But it’s worth a try, right?”

That was hard to argue, at least, and Akira _did_ want to find a solution. Even he was starting to feel a little grody, and he and the thieves had a costume swap to depend on every time they went into the theater. Thinking about the other Persona users and how they’d end up feeling, wearing the same clothing day in and day out, was more than enough to tip the scales.

“Let’s gather a few of the others, and we’ll take a look,” he said in response, Makoto flashing him a small smile in response.

It turned out that gathering people was easy. Ryuji and Ann and Haru were left behind, as per Akira’s usual attempt to shuffle up the labyrinth dives to keep everyone well-rested, though Makoto invited herself along with no arguments allowed. Seeing as it had been her idea and he was sure she wanted to see for herself how it would work, Akira didn’t have any arguments anyway.

The rest of the team was filled out with Yusuke, Akechi and Minako, the latter chattering eagerly about their new Persona teammates as they headed into the jungle.

“Their leader seems like a pretty nice guy, honestly. He’s been pretty quiet, but, well…” she paused only briefly, before she perked up again. “He’s worried about his navigator, so I’m sure he’ll be chattier after that. They’re a pretty fun bunch, though!”

Akira tilted his head, listening with one ear as he kept an eye out for Shadows with the other. This time, they’d made sure to have Futaba in on the trip, of course; they would have been able to avoid the entire fiasco of the last mission if they’d just had her there to watch for any signs of Shadows.

“How is she doing?” Akira asked, sincerely curious. He had no interest in pushing them into joining them in exploring the movies until they were ready, of course, but it was still good to have a general idea of when that might be. They couldn’t continue their spelunking properly until they were all ready.

Minako hummed, nodding easily. “She’s doing much better! I chatted with her earlier, before we headed out here. I think they’ll be good to go soon.”

Trust Minako to know part of why he was asking (the other part, of course, being sincere concern). She was a leader in her own right, after all, and she had to be the antsiest of all of them out here, still hoping they would find her team.

Makoto smiled at her, resting a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll keep progressing soon, then.”

Minako flicked her gaze between the two of them, a gentle, almost wistful smile on her face, before she clenched her hand into a fist for an energetic fistpump.

“Yeah! But in the meantime, we’re looking for a bath, right?” she asked, changing the subject neatly.

Akira decided to let it go, though he made another note of it; she always seemed so perky, but he wanted to be sure that Minako wasn’t pushing herself most of all. Before he could respond, though, Akechi had tapped into the conversation, a hand on his hip, saying simply, “I have to say, I understand the thought process behind this plan, but I’m not so sure we’ll find anything out here.”

He pursed his lips, waving away a far-too-large dragonfly. “If anything, if we do find a suitable pond, it might make us all even dirtier than we were before.”

“That’s a possibility,” Makoto acknowledged with a soft sigh. She paused in her response to clamber over a fallen log, adjusting her mask afterwards. “But we have to give it a try. It’s the only other option we have at the moment.”

“And there’s no guarantee the next movie will be any better for this sort of thing, right?” Minako tossed in, before she vaulted over the same log easily.

Akechi followed suit, if a bit more cautiously, opening his mouth to respond, but… Akira, pausing, gave him pause as well.

“Fox?” Akira called out, peering back over the log where Yusuke had come to a standstill, inspecting some of the foliage thoughtfully. There was no response from the other Persona-user, and the four of them exchanged glances, before Akira shrugged. There was nothing for it but to clamber back over, strolling back to Yusuke’s side.

But before Akira could open his mouth to call to him again, Yusuke gestured to the foliage in front of them. “Look, Joker. I believe this is what we were looking for, correct?”

Akira didn’t see anything immediately pond-like or pond-shaped, but he had long since learned to trust both Yusuke’s eyesight, and his sense for the unusual. So instead of questioning it, he just shrugged inwardly and stepped forward, shoving one of the big leafy branches aside to reveal… more foliage. Another step forward, another branch pushed aside, and--

“Joker, wait--”

Yusuke’s warning came much too late, and Akira stepped right into the pond, tumbling forward into the water with a splash that was more than loud enough to get the rest of the party to scramble back to their position. They pushed the leaves out of the way far more cautiously, gingerly skirting the edge of the pond until they could properly take in the sight--a pond surrounded on all sides by heavy green foliage, the body of water itself small and, presumably, not terribly deep, with on water-logged Joker treading water in the middle of it.

“Well! That sounded like quite the fall, but it seems as though our own Joker is just fine,” Akechi said to nobody in particular, the slightest edge of a smirk to his smile.

Minako ignored him, crouching next to the water’s edge, skirt tucked neatly between her calves and thighs, to offer Akira a hand.

“How’s the water, anyway?” she asked only a little teasingly, as Akira accepted her hand, but hauled himself out for the most part. He shrugged a little in response, starting to peel off his soaked gloves (wet leather, he was finding, was incredibly uncomfortable), legs still dangling into the pond as he sat at the edge of the bank.

“Shock aside,” he said, tossing his gloves aside, “it’s not bad, actually.”

One glove nearly hit Akechi’s pant leg. Akira carefully did not bring it up.

“It might work, so long as we can determine it’s safe,” Makoto murmured thoughtfully, a hand at her chin, peering at it. “We just have to figure out how--”

And that was when a giant Calm Pesce splashed out of the water and dragged them all in.

\--

They were all soaked (even the Phantom Thieves, their costumes transitioning from soaked costumes to soaked clothing) when they trudged back into the theater, though Minako seemed plenty cheerful still, pumping a fist into the air as she called out, “Hey, guys, we figured out where we can take a bath!”

Defeating the Shadow underwater had been a harrowing experience, and Akechi and Makoto still looked a little pale, but Yusuke was just inspecting the scales they’d gotten from the creature, and Minako, as stated before, seemed perfectly fine. They had actually had to abandon that pond entirely (it wasn’t as though they could trust that more Shadows wouldn’t spawn there), but it had only been a matter of time before they found another, this one much calmer and quieter, no matter how long they’d hung around there. As far as expeditions into the movies went, it could’ve been much worse, Akira reflected, tucking a hand into his pocket.

It squelched. His expression flicked a little despite himself.

Still, when the other Persona users from Inaba met them there, the lobby filled with chattering and excitement, everyone seemingly eager to take a moment to enjoy a proper bath (even if it was in a pond), it confirmed it with certainty for him.

It had definitely been worth the hassle, if it meant his team, and these other strange Persona users alike would keep smiling like this.


	2. Errors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “CRITICAL ERROR. ERROR. ERROR. ERROR. ERROR. ERROR. ERROR….”
> 
> There's a lot going on in the theater, but some feelings sting and linger, even though she knows she should be focusing on the next movie's labyrinth.

_”I mean, we might be human, but we’re not all the exact same person…” An attempt to explain why they were all unique, and nothing more than that. Yosuke hadn’t meant anything by it, certainly._

_“THE SAME IDENTIFICATION… NORMALLY, THEY WOULD BE TREATED AS ERRORS.” An innocent comment, Ribbon uncertain of humanity’s individuality, and still trying to understand. She’d only meant to explain what was simple truth to her._

_“ERROR. UNITS ASSIGNED DUPLICATE MODEL NUMBERS. SEARCHING FOR APPROPRIATE PROCEDURE…” An error... To a computer system made of zeroes and ones, they were beyond its comprehension, enough so to derail it entirely. In a world of truth and logic, false and true, they were neither._

_“He and I are errors, huh…?” Maybe she shouldn’t have let it slip. She’d been doing a good job of masking when she was upset. She didn’t want to worry the others. But it was all too much at this point--she didn’t_ want _to be an error anymore._

_“CRITICAL ERROR. ERROR. ERROR. ERROR. ERROR. ERROR. ERROR….”_

\--

It wasn’t that Minako _meant_ to hole herself up. There hadn’t been time to dwell after the big battle in A.I.G.I.S, not with how Hikari had gone missing, and after they’d managed to find the girl? Minako had nearly convinced herself that she was fine.

Nearly.

But it turned out that nearly wasn’t enough, and Minako was only able to watch the Persona users intermingling, preparing for their next big fight for a few moments before it just became too much. But dwelling on something so silly when there were far more important things at stake felt ridiculous, and it wasn’t something she wanted anyone else to worry about.

And so she’d ducked out.

Finding a quiet place where she wasn’t likely to be interrupted was easier said than done in a theater like this. When there were as many Persona users as there were hanging around, it was only a matter of time before someone stumbled across her… unless she ducked into the projection room. Even before Doe went rogue (so to speak), the others generally tended to avoid it, she’d noticed. Not that she could blame them. The blob wasn’t threatening, but it was still eerie to sit in the projection room and know that he was there, staring soundlessly and unmovingly, no matter what they did.

But today, that was exactly what she needed. A place where she could be alone with her thoughts, a place where nobody else would find her for a little while…

Or so Minako had thought, anyway.

It was actually Minato who found her first, gently nudging the door open. Soft as his touch on the door had been, it was still just loud enough for Minako to hear. She lifted her head with what was almost a jolt, and he paused in the doorway--

And then he offered a small, tentative smile, head tilting and a hand at the back of his head in quiet, understated sheepishness.

“Hey… do you mind if I come in?”

His voice had always been really soft, Minako thought to herself. She hadn’t spent too terribly much time with him as of yet. She would have liked to say it was by accident--there _were_ an awful lot of Persona users to spend time with, after all--but she couldn’t with any sincerity. The truth was, she had been avoiding him. Not out of malice, or because she didn’t think she wouldn’t like him. From what Minako had observed, he was kind, even despite how quiet he was, and a peaceful counterpoint to the occasional boisterousness of the other first years in SEES.

It was strange, really. To think of their differences, and yet… even so, they were considered exactly the same--

Minato’s head tilted further, and Minako shook herself out of her reverie, clearing her throat.

“Oh--yeah, of course you can come in! You don’t have to be so polite, you know. We’re--” _\--the same person, after all._

Her throat closed up before she could say that, but it didn’t seem to matter; Minato seemed to understand what she meant nonetheless, a rueful half-smile on his face. But even so, he came in, gently shutting the door behind him. He tucked his hands into his pockets, stepped forward, and then settled into a seated position next to her, on the floor and up against the wall.

He looked so ridiculous with his hands tucked into his pockets while he sat like this that Minako had to stifle a giggle behind her hand despite herself--which Minato looked entirely unoffended at. His expression was as calm as ever, but she almost thought she saw amusement twitching at the corner of his lips.

“Hey, Minako-san… I hope I’m not bothering you. It’s just…” He paused for a moment, searching for words, before he finally continued, “...after the last movie, I realized we hadn’t really gotten the chance to really talk.”

Not since that first time, when they’d realized exactly who they were to each other.

And he seemed so tentative, so uncertain, that she almost felt like reaching out and ruffling his ridiculous hairdo. How would he react? She wondered if he would let her get away with it…

With that in mind, how could she really be afraid of this? What _had_ she even been afraid of? Certainly not this unassuming boy, who looked like he wanted to make amends even though he hadn’t done anything wrong. She had to do her part too--she was Minako, of SEES, and just as much a leader as he was.

So she pointed at him fiercely, and even though his only indication that he was startled was a slightly quirked eyebrow, she was starting to realize that that was just how he was.

“First off!” Minako said, a bit of her usual good cheer seeping back into her tone. “Just call me Minako, okay? We may as well, because… maybe it’s just me, but I feel a lot closer to you than someone I just met.”

Minato hummed softly, nodding. “That seems fair. And second…?”

“Second!” she continued, bouncing off of his opening easily, as if they’d talked hundreds of times before, instead of just once. “... I’m still figuring out second, or at least how to word it.”

The sheepishness of that comment got an amused snort out of the other boy, at least, so it wasn’t a total loss.

“Hey… Minato-kun--”

He arched an eyebrow at her, and she amended, “Minato, I mean.”

At his nod, she continued, “Do you mind if we talk? About… SEES, and what happened in that dungeon, and just… you and me, in general.”

That was the crux of the matter, wasn’t it?

Minato was already nodding before she’d even finished the list, and in his usual quiet tone, he said, “It must be really hard to be so close to SEES, but to not have any of them remember you.”

That was certainly part of it, Minako couldn’t argue that. But she’d come to terms with a lot of it with SEES, and with the Phantom Thieves at her back. It certainly wasn’t something she wanted _him_ to feel bad about… and it was only just now sinking in that he might.

“ _That_ is definitely not your fault, so don’t start feeling bad about that, okay?”

She took some pleasure in getting a bit more of a startled expression out of him with that one; there was a certain joy in provoking emotion out of the deadpan boy, and Minako was starting to realize that she might want to do that more in the future too. Huh…

Still, she continued even more thoughtfully, her own tone quiet, “It’s true that that hurt a lot… but everyone’s been so kind and welcoming even so. I miss the camaraderie we had, and I think I always will, but… SEES is SEES, right?”

There was something soft about his expression then, something that was not at all hard for Minako to read, because she’d seen it in Yu’s expression, and Akira’s as well, whenever they talked about their teams. It was the love they had for each and every one of their comrades, and the way that they treasured those bonds. That was something they _all_ had in common.

Minato just slowly shifted with a sigh, leaning back against the wall more, his head tipping back until he was practically staring at the ceiling.

“So then…” he said musingly, considering. “The next thing we should talk about is that ‘error’ business, right?”

It was almost a surprise how bluntly he cut to the heart of the matter--but then, maybe it shouldn’t have been surprising. After all, Minako was much the same way. When it came to things that were important, she certainly thought it was important to be blunt and to get right to the point. So many differences, and so many similarities. Where did one Wild Card end and the other begin…?

Minako wasn’t entirely sure where she herself stood anymore on the matter; even just a few more minutes of conversation with Minato had turned all of her thoughts upside down on it. Was this the effect she had on other people…? So rather than dive into things, she figured it couldn’t hurt to ask for his opinion.

She was _sure_ her tone was entirely innocent when she responded, “What did you think about it, Minato…? Did it bother you?” but the way that he looked at her in response, a hint of skepticism and amusement in equal parts, made her think maybe he’d kind of seen through her slightly flimsy ruse.

Whatever. It was fine, so long as he didn’t call her out on it--

“I don’t mind going first, but it’s not letting you off the hook, okay? I still want to know what you really felt,” came his immediate response, and Minako stiffened, her hands perched in her lap as she straightened.

_He called her out on it_.

But he didn’t linger; instead, Minato settled back against the wall again, expression thoughtful.

“I guess… it took me off-guard, a little,” he admittedly slowly, as if he wasn’t entirely sure about how to talk about his emotions at all.

That was relatable.

Minako nodded, watching him intently as he continued. “I know we’re supposedly the same person from alternate universes or whatever, but you always seemed so different… it was easy to put that aside. But being called an ‘error’ for it is a little harsh, right?”

“Right?” Minako echoed on automatic, huffing faintly. “I know Ribbon-chan didn’t mean anything by it for sure, and neither did any of the others, but it sure is rude for a system to decide that we’re errors just because we’re a little out of the ordinary!”

Her fingers curled into fists on her knees.

“I’d like to find the person who designed that system and give him a piece of my mind!”

Now that she was on a roll, the words just kept coming. “After all, we didn’t do anything wrong. I’m glad that we were able to help everyone get through because of it, but… but even so, it didn’t really feel great to be called that. I just…!”

And then, at a whisper, words she hadn’t admitted to anyone, words she hadn’t wanted to burden anyone with, slipping off of her tongue before she could think better of it, “I just miss SEES… I miss what we have. I was used to feeling replaceable, but with them… it was different. And now…”

Minako closed her mouth firmly, staring down at her lap. These were thoughts she hadn’t shared in a very long time, if ever, and the fact that she was sharing them now was unusual to the extreme. Was it the bond they shared? Was it just the gentle expression the blue-haired boy was wearing?

Or maybe it was that she knew, deep down, that he’d understand, and sure enough, Minato didn’t hesitate to respond, nothing but understanding in his expression, “It’s like how things were before SEES, right? Back when you were moved from place to place all the time. Back when it felt like you weren’t wanted by anyone.”

She shouldn’t have been surprised that he understood, and in truth, she wasn’t as surprised as she felt like she may have been in any other instance. After all… he was her, and she was him. Minako knew it. Minato had gone through the exact same things she had.

So quietly, she just nodded, tone gently defeated. “That’s right.”

Minato was silent for a moment, though she could feel his eyes on her. If he was trying to read her, or trying to think of how to respond, she couldn’t say, but she didn’t lift her head.

“Hey, Minako…” Still, when he began to speak, she couldn’t help but perk up a bit, listening intently.

“I don’t think you’re an error at all.”

It wasn’t really much of a statement at all. It wouldn’t resolve any of the issues they were facing, and it surely didn’t answer any of their questions. But even so… even so, somehow hearing that meant far more than she thought it would. Slowly, she lifted her chin to meet his eyes, red meeting blue, and opened her mouth to respond--

And was interrupted by a gentle knock.

She looked at Minato quizzically, distracted for a moment despite herself from their conversation. He shrugged in response, clearly just as puzzled as her.

“Come in…?” she finally called out, glancing at the door.

It was significantly less surprising when the head that popped in belonged to a certain grey-haired Wild Card. He blinked when he saw the both of them, rubbing the back of his head in sheepishness that was very reminiscent of Minato’s earlier awkward gesture, and laughed weakly.

“I’m not interrupting anything, am I…?” Yu asked carefully.

Minato glanced at Minako, and both of them knew the answer to that question immediately.

“No, of course not!” Minako offered up cheerily, though still a bit dampened, and Minato finally tugged a hand from his pocket to pat the space in front of them. “Come sit with us.”

Obediently, Yu stepped into the room, shutting the door behind him once again. He crossed the room and plopped himself down on the ground right where Minato had indicated, across from the other two Wild Cards. Minako was amused at his display of perfect obedience, and when she glanced over at Minato, she was pretty sure he felt the same, subtle as the expression was on his face.

Still, before either of them could ask, Yu offered up an explanation of his own with that peaceful way of his. “I wanted to come check on you guys, but… it took me awhile to figure out where you’d gone off to.”

His expression grew a shade more rueful. “I guess I’m not quite as good at predicting that compared to the way you two can read each other.”

That statement lingered in the air for only a moment before he froze, as if processing what that statement could have been implying. “Wait, I didn’t mean--”

Minako was tempted to leave the poor Wild Card wiggling on the hook a moment longer, but even as she contemplated how long she could draw it out, Minato let him down gently. “Hey, it’s okay.”

She pursed her lips at him. Minato just quirked an eyebrow at her, unrelenting. Honestly, that boy.

“We’ve been working some of that stuff out in here,” Minato informed him. “You don’t have to be so careful about it. We know that we’re similar in a lot of ways.”

“ _And_ ”, Minako added a little tartly, still somewhat miffed Minato had defused her opportunity for fun so easily, “different in a lot of ways too.”

Yu glanced between the two of them, expression contemplative. He was quiet in response for long enough that even Minato and Minako were starting to feel a little uneasy about it, when he suddenly smiled, huffing out a soft sigh.

“That’s a relief,” he admitted, and he did indeed look like a weight had dropped from his shoulders. “Once he realized what he’d said, Yosuke felt pretty bad about it. It’s true that we’re all individuals, but…”

A shrug, and he finished simply, “We have to all take into account both of your circumstances too.”

It was sweet of him, Minako thought, if in a slightly ineffective way. She liked Yu, too--he was kind, dependable, and thoughtful, much like a gentle dog. Getting to know him better, both as a Wild Card and a leader, had been honestly enjoyable. Still, she felt like she had to correct him here, if gently.

“We’re still individuals, you know? Even if that robot overlord assigned us the same IDs, or whatever…” She paused, searching for the words, but Minato finished for her, a simple, “We’re still us.”

To his credit, Yu just looked pleased to hear that, and not at all surprised.

“Ah,” he murmured, a hand coming to his chin contemplatively. “So you don’t need the pep talk I prepared at all, after all… you already figured it out.”

Endearing. He was so endearing, and Minako covered up an unladylike snort behind a hand in response. Minato, solemn as ever, just met steel grey eyes and said just as seriously, “No. I want to hear the pep talk. We both need the pep talk desperately.”

It was impossible to take a statement like that seriously when it was said even more dryly than the Sahara Desert, but Yu rose to the task gamely. His tone was just as bland and serious when he said, “All right. I’ll give you guys the best pep talk I can. I rehearsed this for a long time, so I really hope it helps.”

This time, Minako had to cover up a grin behind a hand, but she sat up and nodded eagerly when Yu glanced at her to be sure she was ready for the incredible pep talk he was about to deliver. Of course, they all knew at this point that a sincere, serious talk wasn’t really necessary at this point. They weren’t crushed by what had happened, and they were handling it just fine on their own.

But even so, as Yu began to speak, Minako found that there was something about his words that got to her nonetheless.

“I just wanted to say,” Yu said, hands on his knees as he leaned forward to look them both in the eye. “You’re both pretty amazing.”

“Hey, that’s not--” Minako began, lips parting and brow furrowing, because _sincere_ compliments from another Wild Card was not what she signed up for with this mock pep talk, but Yu didn’t let her finish.

Instead, firmly, he said, “You are. That’s the truth--that’s how we all see you both. I know it’s kind of presumptuous to speak for everyone here, but it’s definitely true.”

Minako didn’t look stunned for long. Instead, her lips pursed into a pout, cheeks blown out as well as she stared at him. “That’s not fair!”

It was clearly not the response Yu had been expecting, which was all the ammunition Minako needed; she was pretty tired of being taken off-guard this entire exchange, and was _more_ than prepared to be back in the driver’s seat, so to speak.

So she rode that momentum, propping her hands on her hips even while seated, with a demanding, “You just come in here to compliment us both as if you’ll get away with it without us doing the same in return. If you think it’s going to be that easy, you’ve got another thought coming, mister!”

Yu blinked at her blankly, and then glanced over at Minato despite himself. The other boy just shrugged blandly.

“She’s right, you know,” he said simply. Minako flashed him a peace sign before Yu looked back to her, grateful and strangely pleased that he was taking her side.

Hastily, she shoved said peace sign behind her back when Yu looked back at her, before he just heaved a sigh, leaning back on his hands behind him.

“You two together are kind of menaces, actually…” he murmured to himself, almost contemplatively. “Maybe we weren’t prepared for this after all.”

It was strange, but Minako felt oddly pleased about that, too. Something about someone else acknowledging the bond she and this strange blue-haired boy who felt like he could be her sibling had seemed… nice. Much nicer than she’d thought it would feel. But now wasn’t the time to focus on that. They still had to get revenge, and so Minako nudged Minato’s shoulder with a bright smile.

“Alright, Minato! Now’s our chance. We should get him back with compliments too,” Minako said, chipper and bright, and she could even feel the sincerity of those emotions for herself--and she chose not to notice how Minato seemed to relax, as if he could tell as well. He had no right to know her this well this quickly, but then… wasn’t the reverse true, too?

Well, no point dwelling on it. For now, there was a grey-haired boy to torment with kindness, and--

There was another knock at the door, and Yu, looking immediately relieved, immediately called out, “Come in…!”

The desperate _please_ was nearly vocal, despite remaining unsaid, and Minako sighed wistfully. Opportunity lost, but not forgotten. Probably. Because she was immediately distracted by the head of black, shaggy hair that poked into the projection room.

“Minako, Minato, are you guys in--oh, hey, Yu.” Akira recovered admirably from the surprise of stumbling across a pow-wow of Wild Cards, leaning against the side of the door with faux-casualness that just seemed a little silly considering Minako was sure she knew what he was there for.

She hummed, leaning back against the wall, exchanging another glance with Minato. At his nod, she beckoned to Akira, with a mischievous, “Are you here to comfort us too?”

Obediently, he strolled in, shutting the door behind him once again, a hand propped on his hip as he surveyed the group. “Well, I _was_ going to,” Akira said, but despite his mock-put-out tone, his lips were twitching at the corners, “but I can see that I was beaten to it. You don’t look like you need much comfort at all now.”

And, when Minako took stock of her own emotions… she found that that was true. It was true that the thought of being an “error” still stung a little, but it was a manageable sting. Far more present and stark were the feelings of affection and warmth, of belonging with the blue-haired boy next to her and gratitude to the two boys in front of her who had searched all over just to make sure she was okay. Minato didn’t look at her, but he did lean slightly, just enough to brush shoulders with her, and to her, that was practically a soliloquy of his own feelings. Yeah. They were going to be just fine, weren’t they?

So in response, she just lifted her chin and grinned at Akira, and said, “We were actually about to torment Yu by giving him a lot of compliments that he couldn’t deflect or try to turn back on us. Want to join us?”

Akira’s eyes lit up, and he flopped down to the ground to complete the square of the four of them, Minako was satisfied. If she had to be an “error” to get something like this, then there were worse fates out there, of that she was absolutely sure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This ended up being more of a Wild Card study than anything, but I was so disappointed that the game never really addressed poor FeMC's feelings on that whole error schtick! So here we are.


	3. Games

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hikari's never really played any video games growing up. Futaba, as her new friend, takes exception to that. So naturally, they go on a Quest.

At the approach of footsteps, Hikari squeaked and fought the urge to hide behind the nearest couch. Her compromise, instead, was to half-hide behind the nearest theater chair, instead of fully crawling beneath said chair, peering around it cautiously.

Upon seeing familiar orange hair and a set of headphones, Hikari was relieved she compromised; she perked up, poking her head up more so Futaba could see her. And...also, the floor beneath the seat was undoubtedly dirty, so she was relieved for that reason too.

“Hikari-chan…?” Futaba called out, before the other girl brightened upon seeing her poke her head up. “Oh, there you are! I’ve been looking for you, but, um, well… because there are so many new Persona users around, it ended up being a stealth mission!”

Hikari nodded quietly, shuffling out from behind the chair. “Yeah… There are so many of them now. They all seem nice, but…”

The unspoken lingered heavily in the air between them--even if they were nice and other Persona users, it was still overwhelming for people like them to have to deal with so many new strangers in such a short time. Hikari had been opening up, bit by bit, but every time they had a brand new group milling about the theater, she found herself retreating again, before she slowly pried herself out of her metaphorical shell once again. But every single time, Futaba found her, and here she was again, finding Hikari in the empty theater she’d hidden herself in.

The thought, somehow, made Hikari smile a little to herself.

“Um… did you...need something, Futaba-chan…?” Hikari asked, voice soft but body language relaxed as she left her little hiding place and moved towards the other girl. Futaba pointed at her fiercely, and responded, “Nope, not at all!”

Oh. Hikari blinked, slowly tilting her head to one side. “Oh… why were you looking for me, then…?”

“It’s not that I need something from you or something like that,” Futaba said then, fiddling with her own fingers a little awkwardly. “It’s… just that I was worried! You disappeared all of a sudden, and I figured you were feeling overwhelmed by the sudden level spike of the next mission! So… I wanted to come check on you.”

She looked embarrassed, a faint flush gracing her skin, but nonetheless Futaba looked determined too as she met Hikari’s eyes unflinchingly. The sincerity to those words, awkward as they were, hit Hikari suddenly and fiercely. When was the last time anyone had come to check only on her? When was the last time she’d been in someone’s thoughts this often, just because she was her? It felt like she was a character who was suddenly restored to their proper role in the story after having been left to one side for the entirety of the movie, and mortifyingly, the realization made her sniffle a little.

Futaba, hearing that sniffle and seeing Hikari lift her hands to scrub at her eyes hastily, panicked immediately.

“Oh--I’m--Don’t cry, Hikari-chan, it’s okay! I’m not very good at this ‘talking to people’ thing, and sometimes I say the wrong things or make things worse, but, um… I really just want you to be happy, so…!” Futaba hesitated, looked at Hikari’s hands covering her face again, and tugged at her own hair. “Aw, man, I’m a total newb at this! I should’ve checked the tutorial first before trying to just come in here and handle things on my owwwwwwwn.”

Despite her sniffles, that made Hikari giggle right through them, and she slowly lowered her hands to look at Futaba with a bright expression. “It’s, um, I’m not upset… I’m actually just… really, really happy.”

“...Oh!” Futaba blinked but was quick to brighten immediately. “Oh, that’s a huge relief. I was starting to think I’d made some sort of syntax error somewhere, but it was _actually_ just that I still don’t get people, which is okay. That quest’s still in progress anyway.”

Hikari giggled again at that; even though she didn’t understand at least a solid percentage of what came out of Futaba’s mouth at any given time, somehow she was still always able to understand what the other girl _meant_ , which was what really mattered anyway. Still…

“You say a lot of stuff like that,” Hikari said softly, curiosity sincere. “Like… ‘quests’ and things. What do you mean? It doesn’t sound like you mean the Hero’s Journey, or anything like that...”

“Oh, no no no,” Futaba said quickly, shaking her head. “It’s not movie or book stuff like that. I’m talking about video games.”

Hikari still looked at her blankly, something that made Futaba look at her askance, the Persona user immediately digging into one of her pockets for something. “You haven’t played any video games? You’re _totally_ the right age for it, so--”

At Hikari’s shake of her head, Futaba just looked even more scandalized, so the white-haired girl explained softly, “I was always more interested in movies… and um, we didn’t have a lot of money, so I couldn’t really afford them.”

Futaba’s face was starting to do that thing it did sometimes where her brows drew together and her lips pressed into a thin line, which Hikari had observed meant she had heard or seen something she wasn’t a big fan of. She’d seen it while the Persona users were in the theater _and_ when someone said something stupid outside of it alike, and so she hastily rushed to reassure her. “It’s not so bad, though! Um, like I said, I always just wanted to watch movies more instead, so…!”

“But games are kind of _like_ movies,” Futaba said plaintively. “You’re totally missing out. I’m sure you’d love them!”

She finished digging into yet a third pocket, tugging out her phone victoriously. “Aha! We can play a game on here. Then you can finally get a good taste of it. I hope you’re _ready_ , Hikari. It’s going to blow your mind!”

Admittedly, Futaba’s claim that they could be like movies had caught Hikari’s interest, and that combined with the fact that Futaba liked them so much meant that she was intrigued despite herself. So Hikari scooted closer to peer over Futaba’s arm at her phone as she flipped through her apps to pull one up.

“So this one’s a mobile game,” Futaba was explaining. “It’s got a good story, though, even though it’s more episodic than an actual movie. And it means we can play a bit and you can still get the hang of it without, like, having to play one of those proper console games that requires _at least_ fifteen hours or so to _really_ understand the process of playing it.”

Mystified, Hikari nodded at the information overload, and Futaba seemed content to continue to chatter.

“I’m really excited for you to get to try it out. Playing a game for your first time…” She paused, grinning a bit. “There’s nothing like it. You’re really gonna love--oh.”

Futaba, staring down at the loading screen for the game, closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Hikari peered at the screen, entranced by the colorful characters and endless descriptive text.

“... No Wifi. No internet. Can’t connect to a mobile game without some sort of _connection_. Ugh, it’s like this place is in the stone age!” Futaba huffed, closing the app and stuffing her phone back into her pocket.

Tentatively, Hikari asked, “So we can’t play…?”

“Not this game,” Futaba said slowly, but there was a calculating look on her face as she pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose. “But we are _not_ giving up. Trust me, _someone_ in this place has gotta have a game that you don’t need wifi for, and we’re gonna find it!”

“Um, Futaba-chan, w-wait--”

Hikari’s protests were in vain as Futaba snagged her hand and, filled with newfound determination, entered the theater proper, dangerously filled to the brim with new strangers that they barely knew.

* * *

Futaba knew the rules of video games, however, and that was why she chose an easy encounter to begin with. “So we can get our levels higher before we take on the tougher quests,” Futaba confided in Hikari, who just nodded blankly.

So the first person they spoke with was Ann.

Futaba was clearly at ease with the other Phantom Thief, and Ann had been around long enough that Hikari was also, at the very least, pretty used to her, even if she hadn’t spoken with her in person much. She seemed nice, so…

“You’re a gamer, right, Ann?” Futaba asked as a greeting, without even bothering to ease into the topic. Ann, to her credit, didn’t seem at all surprised or bothered, and Hikari was a little awed. Was this what it was like with people you were comfortable with…? Was it possible to just talk about anything and anyone with those people?

“I guess so,” Ann said, twirling a pigtail around her finger. “I like to play video games, anyway, sooo… close enough?”

“So yeah, gamer,” Futaba responded, waving a hand. “Don’t sweat the details. Anyway, do you have any games on your phone? It’s _really_ important.”

Ann’s lips were twitching in amusement, but she tugged her phone out of her pocket nonetheless. “ _Really_ important? Like Palace-level important or ‘gonna miss the raid because we’re stuck in an alternate dimension’ important?”

“The latter, definitely the latter,” Futaba confirmed without missing a beat.

Ann unlocked her phone and handed it over as Futaba made grabby motions with her hands, and the orange-haired girl beamed at her before she began to pour over her apps.

“Oooh, Ann, you play _Flame Insignia: Heroes_? Good taste,” she mumbled as she scrolled on through. Seeing Hikari looking between the two of them, Ann just shrugged her shoulders a little with a bright smile.

“She’s just kind of like this. You get used to it, eventually.” A hum, and she continued, “Thanks for being her friend, though. You two have been good for each other, I think.”

Hikari was certain Futaba had been good for her, but the other way around…? That seemed entirely impossible. But still, Ann’s bright and cheery expression seemed too sincere to be just messing with her.

“U-um,” Hikari said, shuffling in place a little. “I really like spending time with Futaba-chan, so… I’m glad if I can do a little bit for her too, even though I’m not sure…”

“Alright, alright, enough being embarrassingly sappy while I’m right here in hearing range,” Futaba said, looking up from Ann’s phone. Despite her steady tone, she looked a little embarrassed herself, which she tried to cover up by shoving Ann’s phone back at her.

“All of your games need internet too,” she said with a sigh. “We’ve got nothing.”

Ann tapped her bottom lip with a finger contemplatively. “What about some of the other Persona users? They’re from the past, right? I feel like games that didn’t require wifi to play were more common back then.”

“Not a bad idea,” Futaba said, nodding sagely. “We’ve just gotta go back in time to when phones sucked more.”

“Oh my god, Futaba, please don’t actually say that to them.”

“Can’t hear you, Ann, gotta go!” Chipper and exuberant, Futaba snagged Hikari’s arm and hustled her away as Ann pressed a hand to her forehead and sighed.

“Um…” Hikari said hesitantly, trotting after Futaba as she strode across the theater lobby. “What’s...next?”

“Well…” Futaba hummed a little to herself. “It’s a bummer we can’t depend on the Phantom Thieves for this, but Ann was the most likely to have a good range of games on her phone. Akira’s just got the same stuff as me, Ryuji’s phone is a mess, Yusuke and Makoto and Haru don’t really play games…”

She thought about it for a moment, before she shrugged. “We’ll just have to try with the next set of Persona users, like Ann suggested. I’ve got a pretty good idea of which random encounter we should try next, too.”

“Which…?” Hikari asked, blinking.

“The weakest leveled trash mob monster,” Futaba said with a grin, pointing at Yosuke where he sat on one of the theater couches, chatting with Yu. Hikari wasn’t sure about the terminology, but she hesitated nonetheless, because it sounded a little mean. Still, Futaba was pressing onwards, and Hikari trotted to catch up, if only because she couldn’t leave Futaba to approach them alone. Yu...was gentle, Hikari knew, which helped. Even though he was large and pretty intimidating, he’d been really nice to her every time they’d talked, and this set of Persona users had been around long enough now that she was slowly starting to get used to them.

It seemed Futaba was thinking much the same; she slowed as they approached, hesitating a bit, before she straightened her shoulders and cleared her throat.

“Ahem! H-hello fellow Persona kids!” she said, stiffly.

Yu’s lips twitched, and Yosuke stared at her blankly, something that did not help either girl’s self-conscious uncertainty. Thankfully, Yu smoothed it over with a solemn, “Hello, fellow Persona kid and Hikari-chan.”

He waved at her, and tentatively, she waved back from where she was half-pressed against Futaba’s side, half-hidden behind her.

“Can we do something for you?” he asked, leaning back against the seat.

“Y-yes!” Futaba said, trying her absolute best to hide the fact that her hands were, ever-so-slightly, trembling. Hikari thought she saw Yu look at them, but he said nothing about it, allowing Futaba the space to speak. “I’m...here to demand phone games! From the low-leveled NPC, preferably!”

“Hey,” Yosuke said, injured, assuming immediately (and correctly) that she was referring to him.

Yu ignored him, smiling a little to himself at Futaba’s bravery, and digging into his pocket for his flip phone. “Well, she did ask nicely, Yosuke.”

Yosuke scowled at his partner. “She didn’t ask nicely at _all_. I don’t know what sort of world you’re living in sometimes.”

Still, even as he griped, he was pulling out his own phone, which Yu collected before he offered both to Futaba. She hesitated a moment, glanced over at Hikari, and seemed to come to the conclusion that it was worth it to introduce her friend to the wonders of video games; she took a deep breath, and scurried over to snag both phones before she hastily backed away until she was by Hikari’s side again.

Once she was a safe distance away and had the phones in hand, though, it was like she was a whole different person. “I took apart one of these suckers once,” Futaba said casually as she rifled through the phone’s various functions with ease. “It wasn’t that hard. Compared to nowadays, they’re really basic.”

Yosuke huffed. “I feel like I should be offended, but I’m not sure yet about what.”

“I’m a simple guy,” Yu said mildly, shrugging. “It’s fine if my phone is simple too.”

Futaba made a disgusted noise, tossing Yosuke’s phone back. He wasn’t expecting it, so he yelped and lunged to catch it, bobbling the device.

“Hey, be careful with that…!”

“Eh,” Futaba said, turning her attention to Yu’s. “Those things’re indestructible anyway. It’s fine. Besides, you caught it, right?”

She ignored his response in favor of flipping open the other phone, blinking. “Who’s this? On your background?”

“It’s my cousin,” Yu said with a smile, even as he patted Yosuke on the shoulder consolingly.

Futaba considered that for a few moments before she said, “Huh. She’s cute. I didn’t take you for that kind of guy, but I think I’m getting a better read on your character type now. Buuut… still useless.”

She tossed that phone back too, which Yu caught easily, prepared for it as he was.

“Doesn’t anyone around her play any classic games on their phone?” Futaba huffed, crossing her arms as she thought aloud. Yu shrugged, smiling apologetically. “I haven’t really used my phone enough for that. I don’t think the rest of the Investigation Team is the sort to have games on their phones either, to be honest.”

“Nah,” Yosuke confirmed. “I’d be surprised if any of them use their phones for anything other than taking pictures and sending messages.”

Futaba frowned deeply. “That leaves only one option, but it’s going to be boss fight levels of tough…”

Hikari tilted her head, but even without video game knowledge, she was more than familiar with what that meant. She frowned a little, shoulders hunching, and Futaba nodded solemnly. “We gotta talk to the new kids.”

* * *

It was difficult to tell time in the theater, but even so, it was plenty easy to tell that SEES had only been with them for a little while (Minako, naturally, aside). This made them a bit of an oddity to the rest of the group as they got to know each other, and it kept SEES off on their own as they adjusted to being in the theater and having to deal with meeting a sudden, huge new group of Persona users. It didn’t help that SEES as a group was seemingly more standoffish, leading to integration of the groups being slow.

This all meant, of course, that Futaba and Hikari had had very little to do with them, which made them a frightening, uncertain entity.

“Target spotted…!” Futaba whispered from where she was hiding behind the concessions counter, peering over the top of it. Hikari nodded rapidly, watching as the teal-haired girl (Fuuka, she thought it was…?) walked with the youngest of the Persona users, Ken. Theo, long-suffering, shuffled around them as he went about his business.

“Um, her…?” Hikari asked uncertainly.

“She seems non-threatening, and… she’s a navigator like me! So… so we probably have something in common!” Futaba said, expression both fierce and unconvincing. Hikari reached out for her hand carefully.

“Um… Futaba-chan. I’m really glad you’ve been doing all of this for me, but… I don’t want you to push yourself either.” She offered a small smile, tilting her head a little. “I’ve already had a lot of fun just going around the theater with you like this.”

Futaba wavered for a moment. “Ugh… critical hit to a weakness, Hikari-chan,” she muttered, clutching her chest. But then she rallied herself, shaking her head. “I’m glad you’ve had fun, but I don’t wanna give up now. We’re really close, and, well… if this doesn’t work out, at least we can say we tried all the way, instead of giving up when we’d almost won.”

She turned her smile, tentative but warm, on Hikari, and asked, “You wouldn’t stop watching a movie right in the middle of the climax, right?”

Hikari took a deep breath and let it out in a soft sigh, but she was smiling when she lifted her own head. “Right. Okay, Futaba-chan. Let’s do it.”

“If you ladies are finished, I do have customers,” Theo said primly, and Minako peered over the edge of the counter at them with a faint grin, Akira with a solid stack of yen in his hands at her side. Futaba grabbed Hikari’s hand again, tugged her up, and yelled, “Abscond!” before she was off, leaving Akira laughing at Theo’s frazzled expression behind them.

Once they were a “safe” distance away, so-deemed by Futaba deciding that exercise and running were overrated and she didn’t want to do them anymore, she flopped over, wheezing against the wall. Hikari sat next to her, breathing a little raggedly but not near as badly, and Futaba squinted one open eye at her. “That’s… not fair, you...know. I didn’t know you...were more athletic than… you look.”

“I don’t think I am,” Hikari responded with a puzzled tilt of her head. “Isn’t it just that you’re not--”

“Another critical hit!” Futaba groaned. “This one’s less sappy and a lot more painful!”

“Are you two alright?” a soft voice asked, and Hikari and Futaba straightened to see Fuuka crouched in front of them, her arms wrapped around her knees and concern on her face. Futaba exchanged a glance with Hikari, before quickly sitting up properly.

“Now that’s what I call a narrative coincidence!” she said. When she turned her attention back to Fuuka, though, she stumbled over her words. “We, um--we wanted to, well...talk to you…”

“I know,” Fuuka said with a small, soft smile. With that smile on her face, she looked incredibly gentle, and Hikari found herself relaxing bit by bit, her breathing coming more easily. “I could hear you two from behind the concessions counter.”

Futaba hesitated. “That… that makes more sense, yeah.”

Fuuka shifted to adjust her skirt, tucking it until it was pinned between her thighs and calves, and nodded. “What did you want to ask me? It’s okay, I’m happy to listen and help however I can.”

Fuuka had been the right choice in terms of the least alarming member of SEES, Hikari thought; aside from their leaders, both of whom had been immediately kind to her in their own way, Fuuka had a gentle sort of air that made it easier to talk to her. Futaba still stammered, but only a little, and she was able to lift her head a little as she spoke. “Could...we borrow your phone? Um, I mean-- i-if you have any games that don’t need an internet connection...”

“Oh, yes,” Fuuka said with a thoughtful nod, hand immediately dipping into her pocket. “I’m a big fan of playing with stuff like this, so I modded my phone to play some simple games a short while back. I never really took them off, so…”

She offered the phone, and Futaba took it, though her eyes were fixed on Fuuka’s face. “You modded it? You like… to work on stuff like that?”

Fuuka hesitated only for a moment, head dipping as she stared at her lap sheepishly. “Well, that’s… yes, I suppose I do. I know it isn’t particularly girly but--”

“That’s _awesome_ ,” Futaba exclaimed, straightening more. “We _gotta_ compare builds someday! Have you done any PC modding? How about programming, have you built any programs?”

“Oh, well... I’d love to discuss this sort of thing,” Fuuka said with a smile, lifting her head. “I’ve modded my own PC and laptop, and I’m very interested in programming. But…” A beat. She glanced over at Hikari, who was staring at them both blankly, entirely lost. “Maybe we can come back to this later?” Fuuka suggested gently, and Futaba startled back to herself.

“Oh, right, sorry, Hikari-chan! We finally completed our quest!” She hummed a level up tune under her breath, before she flipped open the phone and clicked through, looking through the programs installed on it. “Now you can play a game!”

Hikari felt a little breathless as Futaba handed the phone over eagerly, her eyes wide as she carefully accepted it. It wasn’t the game, though she was excited to try it with Futaba, and with Fuuka’s indulgent smile as she watched them. But their journey together, their chats with the other Persona users, the path they’d taken that had culminated even in them speaking with a stranger successfully…

Hikari smiled, a small but bright expression, and threw her arms around Futaba. The other girl squawked a startled noise, but she was only still for a moment before she hesitantly brought up her own arms to wrap them around Hikari in return.

“Thanks, Futaba-chan,” Hikari said firmly. “I...had a lot of fun going on this quest with you.”

“You haven’t even enjoyed the quest reward yet, you know,” Futaba responded weakly, but the way she kept her arms wrapped around Hikari in a hug told her more than enough. “But… I had fun too. So...let’s go on more quests together again in the future, too.”

Hikari’s response came immediately, even before she could think about it, an eager, “Mm, I’ll be ready for any quest with you!” and she was surprised to find that she really meant it, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't forgotten about this, and I still have a gazillion PQ2 things I want to write--I was briefly distracted by zine writing and a monster of a P5R fic, but...! We're not done here by any means, that's for sure. Thanks as ever for reading!


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